Advertisement

After hung jury, St. Petersburg man charged with murder faces trial again

 
Oscar Fowler is accused of shooting a man more than 20 times.
Oscar Fowler is accused of shooting a man more than 20 times.
Published Jan. 31, 2017

LARGO — By 8:50 p.m., a juror scribbled a message for Pinellas circuit judge Chris Helinger on a legal pad: "We have not been able to come to an agreement."

After six hours of deliberating on July 28, 2015, the jury in Oscar Fowler's first-degree murder trial couldn't come to a verdict. Fowler is charged with shooting a St. Petersburg man more than 20 times in the summer of 2013.

This week, prosecutors are scheduled to present the mostly circumstantial case, built on cellphone records and witnesses who spoke to Fowler after the killing, to a new jury.

Jury selection will begin today.

"I'm hoping things to be completely different with another 12 people," said Assistant State Attorney Richard Ripplinger.

Fowler has been awaiting trial at the Pinellas County jail since his arrest in 2014.

"Mr. Fowler has been waiting a long time for his opportunity to clear his name from the beginning," said defense attorney Jason Bard. "He has been forceful that he did not commit the crime."

On the morning of July 28, 2013, St. Petersburg police found 31-year-old Naykee Bostic's body behind 1803 Beach Drive SE. Ripplinger said the biggest break in the case was the discovery of Bostic's cellphone underneath his body. Through cellphone tower data, investigators determined Bostic and Fowler had been in the same area at the time of the shooting.

A year later, a grand jury indicted Fowler, now 41, on a first-degree murder charge. At the time, prosecutors were seeking the death penalty.

During his first trial, prosecutors presented records from the cellphone towers. The defense argued that Fowler's phone was stolen before the murder. No physical evidence linked Fowler to the murder and the gun was never recovered.

Among the state's witnesses in the first trial was Clifford Frazier, who testified that Fowler called him early on July 28 and told him someone had tried to rob his house. Fowler suspected Bostic of the robbery, and called him.

Also on the stand was Marlon Hall, who testified that during a conversation about street rumors that Fowler killed Bostic, Fowler told Hall, "I ain't going to let nobody take nothing from me," Hall's deposition states.

But the defense questioned their credibility. Frazier and Hall were in jail for federal drug and firearms charges, respectively.

During deliberations, the 12 jurors were divided, said Debbie Lanning of St. Petersburg, who was on the panel. Most were leaning toward guilty.

But Lanning and a few others disagreed.

"The evidence that was presented, I didn't feel that it was an open-and-shut case," Lanning said. "I'm not going to put a human being away because I think he did it or he might have done it on some circumstantial evidence."

A factor the jury also grappled with was the death penalty, the maximum sentence Fowler was likely to face. Prosecutors have since waived it.

Keep up with Tampa Bay’s top headlines

Keep up with Tampa Bay’s top headlines

Subscribe to our free DayStarter newsletter

We’ll deliver the latest news and information you need to know every morning.

You’re all signed up!

Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.

Explore all your options

"That could have been something bothering some of the jurors," Ripplinger said, "so we just got a potential barrier out of the situation."

Since the last trial, two more witnesses, both awaiting trial at the Pinellas County jail, have come forward and said Fowler told them he killed Bostic.

Reached by phone Monday, Bostic's family said they're hopeful the new trial will bring closure. They recalled Bostic as a loving father and son who doted on his 15-year-old daughter, who was 11 when her father died. Although he had a criminal history of cocaine and dealing in stolen property convictions, he also worked in roofing and concrete, they said.

"I hope this will be it because I'm just so tired," said his grandmother, Bertha Bostic. "I just want justice. That's what I'm praying for. Justice."

Contact Laura C. Morel at lmorel@tampabay.com. Follow @lauracmorel.